Entrepreneurs are made, and don’t let a test tell you different

Could you be more successful if you related to people in a different way? Psychology says yes.

The Career Assessment Site, a company promoting psychological testing, recently released a fascinating infographic exploring the 16 basic psychographic types identified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, including, most tellingly, U.S. household income by personality type. The MBTI is a widely used psychometric questionnaire based on the theories of über-psychologist Carl Jung. It identifies 16 possible personality types, divided into four archetypal categories: artisans, guardians, idealists and rationalists.

The chart indicates that one type of rationalist — the ENTJ— tends to garner the highest income, by a long shot. ENTJs, typically driven and confident individuals, enjoy household income of $85,000, well above the next highest type, ESTJ, at $76,000. (At the bottom end of the scale are INFP idealists, at $61,000, and ENTP rationalists, at $62,000.)

Noting this phenomenon, writer Fani Kelesidou of Motley Foolpointed out that some of the most prominent U.S. entrepreneurs share the characteristics of ENTJs, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett. “In general, rationalists are visionary people, but, at the same time, very practical,” writes Kelesidou. “If they see a problem, they fix it. ENTJs in particular, are good with money, determinant to the point where they intimidate those around them, and they are always in the driver’s seat. They don’t settle for second best. They aim for the stars.”

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The world needs all types of people. Where would we be without the underpaid idealists, or INFPs, whose selflessness, caring and calm make them outstanding teachers, caregivers and managers?

Still, we can never have enough great leaders who turn problems into action and create solutions, companies and employment. Those who create the most value generally deserve the highest rewards.

So how do you snare those higher rewards? Can you consciously develop the personality characteristics that define winners? It’s very possible. No one’s future is defined by a stereotype. Critics of Myers Briggs note that test participants can get startlingly different results if they take the test more than once. It’s more of a snapshot than a life sentence.

Years ago when I worked for a major publishing company, I attended a management-training conference for up-and-coming managers. Before the seminar began, we all wrote a personality assessment test; when we arrived, we were divided into groups based on those test results. I was surprised to be included among the “drivers” — the hungriest, most aggressive people in the bunch.

But what happened next was even more surprising. Everyone in our group started acting like drivers. You could see them (okay, us) become more confident, more passionate, and mor dismissive of others’ efforts. And you could see people in the other groups shrink under the burden of knowing they were not ranked among the cool kids.

Self-fulfilling prophecy? People reverting to type? Just the opposite. I think it’s proof people can rise to any type of behaviour, given the appropriate context, encouragement or motivation.

Want to earn more money? Feel free to study the traits of those who make the big bucks: vision, confidence, drive, connections, persistence. Then do what they did; copy the characteristics and habits that lead to success. Your future is not decided by DNA or some psychological test, but by how willing you are to learn and change.